Various types of emergencies or other types of occasions that require some type of assistance may occur when operating a motor vehicle. For example, the vehicle may be involved in an accident, the vehicle may run out of gas, a mechanical breakdown may occur, or the driver may become lost or otherwise disoriented to mention just a few examples. In such situations, it becomes desirable to summon assistance from the authorities, a family member, or some business (e.g., a towing service), to name a few examples.
Cellular telephone or other types of wireless devices have been used where the driver can make a call and summon the appropriate assistance. Unfortunately, with these types of approaches, the ability of the driver to make the call or contact is presumed. In other words, if the driver becomes disabled, injured, or is otherwise unable to make the call, no assistance can be obtained. In addition, there may be areas where cellular communication coverage is inadequate or non-existent thereby making it impossible to request assistance by that method. Other communication methods may exhibit similar location-sensitive impairments.
In other previous approaches, an emergency communication system is integrated with the car. In these approaches, if a sensor detects that the car has become involved in an accident or is otherwise in need of assistance, then the system automatically contacts a call center. Once the call center has been contacted, personnel at the call center can request emergency assistance and dispatch this assistance to the vehicle.
Unfortunately, these previous call center emergency assistance approaches suffer from several disadvantages. For example, the emergency system may utilize a particular communication technology, which may become unusable at the location where the assistance is needed. In these situations, the emergency system is unable to communicate with the call center and the emergency assistance is never sent. This causes user inconvenience at a minimum and can also risk the life and/or safety of the user in many circumstances.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.